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Port of Antwerp
The Port of Antwerp handles more than 160 million tonnes of cargo per year (55% incoming and 45% outgoing traffic).
This volume makes Antwerp the second largest port in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.
A little under half of Antwerp's goods traffic consists of bulk such as coal, ores, fertilisers, grains and so on. Antwerp also handles large quantities of breakbulk. The various port operators have invested heavily in specialised handling installations for trades such as iron and steel, fruit, forest products, cars, dangerous goods and sugar. It thus comes as no surprise that Antwerp is a market leader in many of these trades.
In 2005 the volume of containerized goods came to 74.6 million tonnes, or 6.5 million TEU. Over the last 10 years container tonnage has risen by 42.5 million tonnes or 164.7%.
At present 78% of all general cargo is containerized.
In 2004 the nine principal ports of the Le Havre-Hamburg range jointly handled 28.4 million TEU, or a total tonnage of 298 million tonnes. In terms of tonnage as well as of TEU Antwerp is the third largest container port in the range, after Rotterdam and Hamburg, and has a market share of 21.3%.
Port customers
Antwerp's main customer is the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union (BLEU).
It accounts for roughly half the total maritime traffic.
The other half is transit traffic, the most important partners being Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
Antwerp is not just used for shipping European trades, increasingly the port is used by overseas shippers for their overseas trade with other continents (the so-called "sea-to-sea transit").
Some examples:
- cars, steel and electronic equipment from Japan are regularly discharged at Antwerp for reshipment to Great Britain and Scandinavia
- American cigarettes reach their final destinations in West Africa and Cyprus via Antwerp
- coffee from East and West Africa is shipped via Antwerp to North America
- Canadian zinc ore is transferred to smaller bulk carriers for shipment to Italy and Scandinavia.
Antwerp's maritime foreland comprises some 200 countries. First in order of importance comes the United States of America, the world’s largest importer and exporter. Other countries at the top of the list include the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Norway, and Finland. Every year roughly 32 different countries route more than 1 million tonnes of goods via Antwerp.
Antwerp is located in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, close to the border with The Netherlands.
Antwerp is Belgium's second largest city (after Brussels, the capital) and one of the strongest economic regions in the country.
Belgium is a regionalised country. Antwerp is located in the Flemish region. The official language is Dutch, but most people fluently speak 3 or 4 languages.
Antwerp depends on the Scheldt for its links with the maritime foreland. Intensive dredging has systematically improved the navigability of this tidal river.
Nowadays ships with draughts of up to 50' 6" (15.39 m) can reach the port on a single tide. Draughts of up to 51' (15.54 m) can reach the port on two tides.
The average non-tidal draught for outgoing ships is 40' 3" (12.30 m). If the tidal windows are properly taken into account, ships with a draught of 46' (14 m) can sail downriver to the North Sea. Ships with a length of 335 m and a width of 55 m have no difficulty in using the Scheldt.
The completion of further deepening works will permit tide-independent navigation for draughts up to 46' (14 m).
Antwerp already deals with a considerable amount of shortsea cargo. Roughly a third of all its maritime trade is intra-European. When the trade with the non-European countries around the Mediterranean is taken into account (also shortsea in the sense that no oceans are crossed), shortsea traffic accounts for roughly 44% of all trade. As for the container business, about 18 % is intra-European and roughly 30% can be regarded as shortsea trade.
Verrebroek Dock
As all the available space around the Vrasene Dock, on the port's Left Bank, is fully occupied, work was started in 1996 on the construction of the Verrebroek Dock.
The total quay length will be 5 km, of which 3.1 km is already available.
The sites will be used for modern handling and storage installations suitable for a wide range of products, thus ensuring that Antwerp will be able to retain its dominant position in non-containerised general cargo well into the 21st century.
Productivity in the port is constantly increasing, and calculations indicate that average annual productivity has grown 5% a year every since 1975.
Antwerp has long been famous for the productivity of its dockworkers. As a main port for the shipment of iron and steel Antwerp's stevedores can, depending on the unit weight, achieve rates of 1,200 to 5,000 tonnes per gang per shift for coils, 350 to 900 tonnes for tubes and 700 to 1,500 tonnes for steel plate.
Container handling speeds are of key importance in Antwerp. On average a working crane in Antwerp's terminals makes between 200 and 225 moves per shift, and achieves peaks of 300 moves. When equipped with twin spreaders, the newly installed container cranes, suitable for fourth generation container ships, make it possible to achieve an average of 350 moves per shift.
50-tonne cranes are used for discharging bulk, with each crane achieving a rate of about 12,500 tonnes of iron ore per shift. The same rates are achieved for coal. As for non-ferrous ores and other bulk, discharging rates of 4,000 tonnes per shift are achieved using 25-tonne cranes. For grains, discharge rates are about 7,500 tonnes per shift when five suction elevators are deployed. When grain is loaded round the clock, rates of 12,000 tonnes per day are guaranteed. For fertilisers in bulk the discharging rate is about 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes per gang and per shift.
Storage capacity
Antwerp can boast of 4.8 million m2 of warehousing space, far more than any other European port.
Many warehouses have been specially equipped for a specific trade. There are silos for cereals, coffee, cement, plastics, white sand and wine; reefer tanks for fruit juice; warehouses for coffee, tea, tobacco, sugar, chemicals, kaolin and forest products. Cold stores have been built for tropical fruit, meat, fish and dairy products, while oils and fats are stored in specialised tank farms. Furthermore there is ample storage space for cargoes with special temperature and ventilation requirements. Warehouse complexes have, for example, been built that meet the strictest national and European standards for the warehousing of dangerous products in conditions offering the greatest guarantees of fire prevention and fire-fighting, personal protection and environmental safety.
Antwerp thus offers suitable warehousing and handling for every product imaginable.
Port equipment
Number of conventional shore cranes: 3
Number of floating cranes and derricks (only port authority): 9
Number of bulk cargo gantry cranes: 62
Number of container gantries: 146
Number of on-shore grain elevators: 14
Number of tugs for seagoing ships (docks and Scheldt): 32
Antwerp is one of the leading railway ports in Europe. In 2004, 23.3 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail, representing more than 800.000 wagons. The port is the terminus of several international railway lines, offering daily direct connections with the main economic centres of Europe. Every day over 120 fully loaded trains leave the port, not to mention the 100 arrivals.
